I have been thinking about this for years now and believe that I am at the point where I would move on these feelings. I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with visiting/being a lay resident at a monastery. I am finding it very difficult where I am to study and get a gasp of Buddhism, and I am unhappy with this. I have spoken to the Shasta Abbey in Northern California, but before I make a decision, I wanted to see if anyone here had any advice.

From my positive experiences as a lay practitioner visiting Amaravati Thai Forest tradition monastery in the UK, I would suggest you further investigate Abhayagiri monastery in the USA and the possibility of a short stay there.

I have been thinking about this for years now and believe that I am at the point where I would move on these feelings. I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with visiting/being a lay resident at a monastery. I am finding it very difficult where I am to study and get a gasp of Buddhism, and I am unhappy with this. I have spoken to the Shasta Abbey in Northern California, but before I make a decision, I wanted to see if anyone here had any advice.

Thank you BuddhaSoup. Honestly, traveling and learning in a foreign country does interest me, but due to money reasons I feel I may be limited state side for a while. Plus I believe I would like to get a better understanding and maturity before traveling outside the states.

http://www.abhayagiri.orgAbhayagiri, also in Northern California. It's part of the Ajahn Chah lineage, the abbot is Ajahn Passano. I'm hoping to ordain there after college, very nice place in regards to both residents and location.

I also recommend Abhayagiri monastery. I stayed there as a visitor for 2 weeks. The experience was so wholesome that i wanted to ordain before the 2 weeks were up.They are not accessible by the internet. Their website is "www.abhayagiri.org" there are many resources at the website. The monastery is near Talmage & Ukiah on the northern coast of California._( )_Kit

I completely agree with Moth.Abhayagiri is a wonderful monastery.I stayed there for 2 weeks, the limit 10 yrs ago for a visitor.If i had no debt i would not have had to leave.Resident abbot Ajahn Passano._( )_

I would recommend Metta Forest Monastery in Southern California - I flew in all the way from Europe to spend two weeks there as a guest earlier this year, and benefited from the experience tremendously. The monastery practices in the Thai Forest tradition of Ajaan Lee. You can learn more about the monastery (including visitor information) at watmetta.org, and can also read (and listen to) a great deal of material by the monastery's abbot, Ajaan Geoff (Thanissaro Bhikkhu), at dhammatalks.org.

I was also wondering if when you do go to a monastery to stay for a while and study is it generally okay to go to another one? I don't think every monastery has they same teachings and messages. Honestly I want to learn from quite a few.